Assistant coach Mancini: Ibrahimovic is the most difficult player to manage, Adriano and Balotelli are geniuses

Fasto Salsano has cooperated with Roberto Mancini for twenty years, but now, the 62-year-old Salsano has decided not to follow Mancini to the Doha Sad Club. The two have worked together at Sampdoria, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Zenit, Galatasaray and the Italian team, and Salsano said in an interview that he hopes to coach alone.

Why choose to separate?

"We have always been one. Starting from the playing days at Sampdoria, and later experiences at Inter Milan, Manchester City, Zenit, Galatasaray, the national team and Saudi Arabia, but now I want to coach alone. We are like a couple after a long relationship. A broken couple, but we still care about each other. I have received many invitations over the years, including one from Mihajlovic in Bologna, but I have always chosen to be with Roberto."

What ignited the spark of your collaboration?

"In the Sampdoria period, if the ball was not passed well, he would get angry, but he would not get angry at me. As a deputy, sometimes he would ask me to talk to the presidents because I am good at dealing with interpersonal relationships."

Who is the most difficult to manage?

"Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In 2008, Inter Milan won the Serie A championship, which was also attributed to me. Before the game in Parma, the two of us trained together for a week."

Why only the two of you?

"He had just recovered from injury. He said, 'Tell Mancini that I will train with you.' For five days, it was just me and him. On Friday, Roberto said, 'You think you can play without training with the team?' I persuaded him to participate in the practice match, but on the bus Ibrahimovic said he would start from the bench. It was pouring and we were 0-0 at halftime. Ibrahimovic said, 'I don't want to play,' and I said, 'If you don't play, I'll kick you.' So, he came on in the 10th minute and scored two goals, one of which was dedicated to me."

Which other Inter Milan players are you close to?

"Veron, Zanetti, Figo, Adriano. Adriano is a crystal-pure genius. He needs to release himself because the death of his father hit him hard. Those years were magical."

How is Balotelli at Manchester City?

"He's a mad genius, really good. The darts game, the goals, the 'Why always me?' jersey, Aguero's assist, and that story about wearing the jersey backwards. I tried to help him, but he couldn't tell the difference. Mancini is a genius at picking and convincing stars. Only one said no..."

Who?

"Van Persie, we invited him to Manchester City."

What is your best memory in Manchester?

"I met my friend Maradona, wearing a cape, in a small town bar in the rain. He came to see Aguero, and I was with Zabaleta at the time. The boss was from Naples."

How did you become friends with Diego?

"In September 1984, Napoli played against Sampdoria, which was his first Serie A goal. I also scored, and he gave me the jersey and we took a photo, which still touches me to this day. He liked my style of play and we became good friends. I saved some interviews and he said that I was the best player he had ever seen. I miss him very much."

How was your experience with the national team?

"The second time coaching Inter Milan did not go well. In the national team, we brought a group of injured and angry young people and told them to smile. There is a lot of freedom here."

Is this the key to winning the European Cup?

"Yes. We had a dinner between staff and players to talk about everything, a very harmonious atmosphere. We called up Verratti, who was injured, and I believe he will recover. I called him an engineer, and Jorginho is a professor. And Immobile, despite criticism from all sides, has He was very important to us. I talked to him, Insigne, Buffon and others almost every night and established a close relationship. The only regret was that we lost to North Macedonia and missed the 2022 World Cup.”

The best memory about Vialli?

"I met him in 1983, and later we won the European Cup together. When he was in the national team, he was afraid of sleeping alone. Mancini and I would tuck him in, and we would pull him up when it was cold. Losing people like him and Mihajlovic was a huge blow."

Does Mancini regret leaving the national team?

"He always makes his own decisions, good or bad. He could have gone to Juventus a few months ago, but they didn't work it out."

What is the most serious disagreement in twenty years?

"At half-time at Manchester City, he said they couldn't play without Yaya Toure and the players were angry."